Beth Taska biography: 13 things about Northern Illinois University alumna

Beth Taska is an American woman from San Francisco, California, United States. She attended Nagareyama High School in Nagareyama, Chiba, Japan, Northern Illinois University in DeKalb, Illinois, USA and Roosevelt University in Chicago, Illinois.

On July 4, 2020, Taska confronted an Asian American family while on a hike near Mount Tamalpais, a peak in Marin County, California. Completing a 4-mile hiking circuit, the family comprises a Japanese-American man, his Filipino wife, their daughter, then 11, their son, then 6, and their Maltipoo named Fluffy.

Taska was upset that Fluffy was on the trail. She was wearing a face mask, which dropped when she took her sunglasses off so her face was revealed in the video of the incident recorded by the Japanese-American father.

“You can’t be in this country,” Taska told the family. “You can’t break the law.”

“Excuse me? Can’t be in this country?” The Japanese-American father asked Taska. His first name is Hiroshi and opted not to reveal his last name.

“You can’t break the law,” Taska repeated. The mother commented, “Look at your heritage and go back to where your heritage is from.”

“You can’t be in this country and break the laws,” Taska repeated. “You guys are just breaking the law.”

“You need to mind your own business,” Hiroshi remarked. 

“Okay, well, I’ll just call the police,” Taska threatened. “Do you want to give me your name?”

“What?” Hiroshi could not believe that he was hearing. “Why don’t you give your name?”

“Beth,” Taska responded. She then walked away upon noticing that Hiroshi was recording.

The video of the incident quickly went viral and Taska was dubbed the Park Ranger Karen. Here are 13 more things about her:

1. She and her husband Robert Taska met at Northern Illinois University. After graduating from the university, they served as Peace Corps volunteers in Ecuador where they assisted in small business development.
2. She served in a senior human resources role at Gap and at Sears in supply chain and retail.
3. She served as a vice president of human resources for 24 Hour Fitness in San Francisco.
4. She and Robert have a son named Benjamin Taska.
5. From 1981 to 1985, she attended Northern Illinois University where she graduated valedictorian and magna cum laude with a bachelor’s degree in political science.
6. From 1991 to 1993, she attended Roosevelt University where she earned her master’s degree in public administration with honors.
7. From July 2008 to November 2012, she was the vice president of human resources at Gap, Inc. in San Francisco.
8. In April 2012, she was a keynote speaker at a human resources event in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
9. In November 2012, she joined Clearwire, a technology company in Seattle, Washington, USA, as the chief human resources officer.
10. She wrote a book titled “Start with Yourself: Lessons in Leadership,” which was published by Balboa Press on February 14, 2017.
11. She was mentioned in Jacob Morgan‘s book “The Employee Experience Advantage: How to Win the War for Talent by Giving Employees the Workspaces they Want, the Tools they Need, and a Culture They Can Celebrate,” which was published on March 27, 2017.
12. When she confronted an Asian American family while on a hike near Mount Tamalpais on July 4, 2020, she was the chief people officer of Topa Equities, which is based in Los Angeles, California. The company accepted her resignation on July 7, 2020.
13. She was 51 years old when she told ABC7 News on July 7, 2020 that her mask on July 4, 2020 muffled her words and what the Asian couple repeated was not what she said. She claimed that she “deeply respects the right of all people and regrets her conversation did not illustrate this and wants to work toward unity.”